Commuters paying price for “creaky” rail system, say Soc Dems

Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly has called for accelerated investment in the country’s rail network after a major signalling failure earlier today resulted in lengthy delays for passengers.

The Kildare North TD, who is the party’s transport spokesperson, was speaking after signal faults resulted in delays for DART and Irish Rail users across the Dublin area.

Signal faults are a regular occurrence for commuters, and Farrelly said that this is a result of Irish Rail’s “creaking” network.

Farrelly said that Ireland’s railway network is “coming apart at the seams” and is in need of “urgent investment and upgeading.”

Thursday’s signal fault has now been resolved, but Iarnród Éireann has warned of delays of up to 90 minutes this afternoon as services return to normal.

Passengers using DART, Belfast, Northern Commuter, Sligo, Rosslare, Maynooth and M3 Parkway/Hazelhatch services have all been impacted.

Farrelly said that upgrades to Ireland’s railway network is a result of the “mothballing” of Irish Rail’s new traffic management system, which was found to have serious safety flaws during testing.

As a result, the taxpayer was on the hook for a €50 million bill after it was written down by Irish Rail.

“The failure to deliver this already delayed project also has serious implications for the future expansion of our antiquated rail network,” he said.

“Encouraging more people to use public transport is essential if we are to meet our legally binding climate action targets by 2030 – but services need to be dependable and safe. That means less delays due to signal faults; not cancelling trains on busy bank holiday weekends; not leaving concert-goers stranded; and not subjecting passengers to overcrowded carriages”

“Commuters need to be incentivised to leave their cars at home. However, this will only happen by improving rail services and enhancing passenger experience,” the Social Democrats TD said.

Railway users have complained that catering services, which were suspended on trains between Dublin and Galway in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, have not returned.

Over 6 years later, catering services have not returned.

Irish Rail has claimed that the tendering process hasn’t been competitive, as companies claim it would cost too much money to invest in catering services on the busiest railway route in the country.